Sir John Franklin.
Franklin was born in 1786 at Spilsby, a small town in Lincolnshire, England, about ten miles from the coast. As a boy, he one day visited the seaside, which so delighted him that he then and there made up his mind to be a sailor.
Franklin’s parents wished him to become a clergyman, and in the hope of curing him of his new passion, they sent him on a trial voyage. This plan did not succeed, for the young man learned to love the sea so much that at last the father yielded to his son’s desire, and obtained a position for him in the Royal Navy. While in the navy, John Franklin took part in several of the hardest naval battles the English ever fought. He made a brilliant record as a fearless sailor and a wise and determined leader.
After the wars were over, Franklin began the study of science. But land life was dull for him, and he longed for the dangers and excitement of the sea. When word came that he had been chosen by the government to go in search of the North Pole, he was unspeakably happy. Soon two strong vessels were ready for the voyage. The command of the Dorothea was given to Captain Buchan, while Franklin, with the rank of lieutenant, was put in command of the Trent. Their orders were to proceed northward between the islands of Spitzbergen and Greenland, and if they found the sea free from ice, to push ahead directly for the North Pole. Should they succeed in finding the pole, they were, if possible, to return by way of Bering strait, and thus prove the existence of a northwest passage.
Glacier, English Bay, Spitzbergen.
The ships sailed out of the Thames river April 25, 1818. On May 10 they crossed the Arctic circle, and Franklin beheld for the first time the grand spectacle of the midnight sun. Shortly after the ships had crossed the circle, a terrible gale arose. The weather was bitterly cold, the snow came down fast, blinding the eyes of the sailors, and ice covered the brigs from bow to stern. Every time the bows came up out of the water a fresh layer of ice was formed upon them, and the vessels became so heavy that the sailors were obliged to chop the ice away with axes. The ropes also were frozen over, and in order to keep them ready for instant use, the sailors had continually to beat off the ice with sticks. The ice pack extended on all sides as far as the eye could reach, and little by little it closed around the ships.
A Ship in the Ice Pack.